What do you think? Photoshopped or different artwork? I did receive a copy of the Eugenie R book from Amazon Vine last week. Tried a few chapters, but it might just be a bit too literary for me. Will wait until some other guinea pigs reviewers give it a go and see what they think

Anna met and married Norwegian pilot Johan Vartdal in a whirlwind romance while he was on leave in England. Johan didn’t survive the final days of WWII and the book begins as a widowed Anna is making an extended visit to his homeland. She spends time in Oslo living with and socializing with fellow war-brides, and you will get endless descriptions of coffee parties and social gatherings that the ladies attend.

About halfway through, Anna finally travels to Molde to visit her aging father-in-law who wants to deed over a cottage nearby that is always handed down to a female member of the family. Anna’s plans were to return to England, but she’s drawn to the diary of the woman who previously owned the cottage. We finally get to see what is in this diary about half-way through, and then we get lots and lots of descriptions of life, marriage and children. Sometimes we read directly from the diary, and sometimes it is narrated back to us. There’s a love interest for Anna, plus a slight bit of tension about a male family member who has too much interest in something hidden in the cottage.

*spoiler warning* When that’s resolved, we get more endless exposition about Anna’s happy married life and children. *end spoiler*

Seriously, that’s it. I love hearing about new places and the customs and culture of the locals, but unfortunately that’s pretty much all you are going to get in this. You’ll learn about the food, you’ll attend plenty of tea/coffee parties and maybe a wedding or two, but there just isn’t any story to keep the reader interested. Library only, then buy it if you love it. If you are interested in learning more about Norway, I do highly recommend Laker’s This Shining Land set during the German occupation.

Kindle copy obtained via library loan.

On the eleventh day of their freedom they had to walk five miles upstream and then five miles downstream to get around another creek that had barred their progress up the bank of the O-y-o.

One thousand miles, and only the clothes on their backs (already in rags) and what food they are able to gather along the way. Mary had memorized the landscape on the journey to Shawnee Town and she’s sure she can find her way back by following the river – but there’s still the matter of food which becomes scarcer and scarcer as winter begins, and it’s a bit gruesome what some folks will do for food,

There were not even any worms now. There was no soil at the river’s edge, only rock. And up the slopes; the ground had hardened with cold; if there were earthworms in it, they had burrowed deep.

Mary Ingels and her story is a true one and you can read more about her on the internet if you care to spoil yourself. I enjoyed this book, and found Mary’s story fascinating, but take fair warning – this is not the book for everyone. Mary faces some very difficult decisions before setting out, decisions that might not sit well with some readers. The conditions on the return trip and what Mary and Ghetel are forced to endure and things they are forced to eat are not pretty, and the author doesn’t pull any punches sugar-coating it. 4/5 stars.

FTC, Kindle edition obtained via library loan.

The book begins with Elena returning home ready to take her final vows and become a nun. Jack was heartbroken when she refused to marry him (there are reasons for it, but I won’t spoil), went on a drunken binge, had a fling with saloon singer Daisy Etheridge, unknowingly impregnated her and then signed up on the first ship headed to parts unknown. Whew, long sentence. Anywho, Daisy’s at her wit’s end and needs some money and she heads to the Wilkens spread in hopes of finding Jack or sympathetic relatives (she really is a nice girl, and not a gold digger). And just as soon as Daisy and her daughter Kate are welcomed into the bosom of the the Wilkins household, a still heartbroken Jack finally decides to come home and he’s definitely surprised to find a woman he barely remembers and a child to boot – let alone his beloved Elena wearing nun’s clothing.

Hmmm. I did like this well enough, but not nearly enough as the first two, and I’m glad this was left at three books as the story was definitely running out of steam. Neither Jack or Daisy captured my interest like Jessica/Brady and Hank/Molly did in the first two books, and there really wasn’t a lot of chemistry between them. The underlying storyline wasn’t that compelling either compared to the first two books, the bad guys were rather *meh* and easily whipped, and outside of a nail biter of a rescue after a dangerous storm hits, there’s not much else there. Thumbs up on older brother Brady’s ever-increasing bunch at the ranch (Warner does write kids very well IMO), but the kids just weren’t as funny this time around, at least for me. Loved the epilogue though, that was a perfect finish to the story. 3/5 stars.

Open Country is book two in Kaki Warner’s Blood Roses trilogy (review for book one here) and begins in 1871 as nurse Molly McFarlane finds herself between a rock and a hard place. Her father is dead after supposedly committing suicide, her niece and nephew are at the mercy of their dastardly step-father (an evil baddie with nefarious plots), and it appears there’s some book he thinks Molly has and he’s hot to get it at any cost. Molly flees west with the children where they end up in a horrible train accident. Molly hears that widows will receive $300 for the loss of their husbands, and since Hank Wilkens is as good as dead anyway, she ups and gets herself married to an unconscious groom.

Long story short, Hank survives due to Molly’s excellent nursing skills (her father was a doctor), but his memory’s still a bit off so he believes he married her for love (older brother Brady is in on the deception since he wants a nurse for his pregnant wife Jessica). Molly, Penny and Charlie are brought back to the ranch to join the ever-increasing Wilkens clan at the RosaRoja ranch in New Mexico, where Hank determines to court his *bride* again, and it’s beginning to look like everything might just work out…

And if he had to court a wife for the second time he didn’t remember from the first time, well . . . he’d do it . . . and hope they got to that taking-off-the-clothes part before he was so old he started losing his memory all over again.

That is until Hank’s memory comes back (no spoilers, that’s in the book description), and let’s say he’s not exactly amused. But don’t forget there’s still that evil baddie chasing her (he’s a mean one) and if Molly doesn’t have the mysterious book he wants so badly, just who does have it? And why are his employers so desperate to get it back?

I have to say I am loving this series to bits – especially the kids and the humor. Penny and Charlie are a perfect addition to older brother Brady’s expanding household, most especially Penny. Lord love a sticky six-year-old with a constantly dripping nose asking questions that no adult wants to answer

Because Aunt Molly’s hurt and you said you would keep us safe and now we aren’t.” She let her hands fall to the bed and glared at him. “But I’m not leaving until I get my kitty. You promised.”

Like a dog with a bone, Penny never lets go…

The kid must be part Apache the way she snuck up on a person. “Say what?” he asked groggily. “That I puked.” He squinted up at her, trying to make sense of her words. Conversations with Penny were always a challenge. “Why not?” “Ladies aren’t allowed to say ‘puked.’

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Hank and Molly, and while I understood his anger at her original deception, I think Hank’s anger went a bit too far and it almost evolved into a Big Misunderstanding of the worst kind. The biggest plus for me though was getting to see more of Brady and Jessica from book one. Typically in series like these you’re lucky to get a brief cameo appearance here and there, but Warner puts Brady and Jessica front and center – thumbs up for that. My only real quibble is the final twists with the baddie chasing her, and Molly’s incredibly dumb stunt to save them all. I wanted to wring her foolish neck. Still, you don’t want to miss these and I’m already on the last book, Chasing the Sun.

FTC, Kindle edition via library loan.

She looked at land and thought flowers. He looked at land and thought cattle. She was liveried servants and ivy-covered stone. He was hard-living cowboys and rough-hewn timbers. Champagne and Forty Rod. The two didn’t mix.”

Oh, but they do…

Jessica Thornton is a very proper English lady and she is very pregnant and on the run from her dastardly brother-in-law who wants to force her into signing over the family estate so he can bleed it dry. Jessica comes to New Mexico hoping to find her long-lost brother, but instead she meets Brady Wilkins (watch out for that umbrella, folks).  Jessica and others are injured when their wagon is attacked, and she’s brought to RosaRojas, the Wilkins ranch, where the doctor orders her to stay and rest until her confinement is over. In between battling that dastardly brother-in-law as well the evil baddie bent on revenge against the Wilkins brothers, Brady and Jessica are on the fast track to true love (this is a romance after all).

Yes, there’s more but you don’t need to know it all and I have better things to do today than to recap the whole thing. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down, and started right in with book #2 as soon as I was finished. Not only is Brady the hunkiest hero in recent memory (gawd, that smile of his), he’s got a real soft side hidden beneath that gruff exterior,

You’re here.” He spread his palm over his heart. “Inside me. Part of me forever. If I raise my hand against you, I hurt myself. If I disrespect you, I bring shame on myself. Whether you stay with me or not, that will never change.”

Sigh. And did I mention funny?

Clasping his hands in his lap to hide the effect of his own randy thoughts, he cast about for something to say, something that might intrigue or amuse her, and maybe entice her to take a seat and stay awhile.

 “You know how to ride a horse?” he whispered. Somehow she managed to nod. His lips tugged on her earlobe. “Astride?” “No.” “Time to learn.”

“I do rise when you enter the room. That’s why I don’t stand up.”

Lol. And what is the very best thing about this book? Brady and Jessica sit and talk to each other. They don’t have Big Misunderstandings, they work things out by talking to each other. I adored the times they sat on the porch just quietly holding hands – talk about actions speaking louder than words. This is the first in a trilogy about the three Wilkins brothers, the others are Open Country and Chasing the Sun. 4/5 stars.

FTC – Kindle copy obtained via library loan.

If I am freed, my life will become a purgatory of simpering debutantes.”

That sounds like a fate worse than death. Marcus returns home to claim his bride, but Lydia isn’t too willing and he determines to seduce her into acceptance – and if that doesn’t work he’ll ruin her!

Full disclosure, erotica is not a genre I’ve read and while I knew full well going into this what to expect I wasn’t sure if I’d like it or not, but I was pleasantly surprised. First off we get a Georgian setting instead of the ubiquitous Regency (they are so old). Second, we get a story with characters that are not just wall-paper window dressing. Third, we get a heroine that not only isn’t TSTL (too stupid to live), she’s not one with 21C morals and mindsets. Thank you Ms. Vane for not insulting the reader’s intelligence.

All in all, this novella was a quick, entertaining and seriously steamy read. I hope to see more from Ms. Vane in the future. 4/5 stars.

FTC disclosure, a copy obtained via Kindle loan.

You see, it’s from that line of Kipling’s, ‘Duke’s son-cook’s son-Son of a hundred kings…’…I think he meant that it doesn’t matter about such things because we’re all just about equal anyway.”

Son of a Hundred Kings is at heart a very simple story, one that begins in 1890 and is centered around Ludar Prentice. Orphaned (and his parentage very much a mystery to the reader), his wicked aunt sends him to his father in Canada without any money and a note sewn onto his back telling all and sundry where he’s to be delivered to. Ludar survives the long journey via ship and rail only to find an unhappy surprise waiting for him in Balfour. The town rallies ’round and tries to sort out his history (they all believe he might be a lost duke or something), but he eventually makes his home with the gentle, kind but very poor Billy Christian.  Despite all the obstacles thrown in his path, Ludar retains his gentle nature and the reader watches him as he grows into a young man, a young many very much in love with the prettiest and wealthiest girl in town, Tony Milner – and while Tony returns his feelings she’s still very much beyond his reach. Or is she?

He looked up at the fence. When he was a boy it had seemed as high as the walls of Jericho or the ramparts of Front de Boeuf’s castle, and it had represented to him everything which divided them. It had never occurred to him that the time would come when it could be climbed.”

All rise. Harford County trial docket number fifty-three, the case of Negro Margaret vs. Margaret Ashmore, petition for freedom. The Honorable William T. Archer presiding on this day, Wednesday, August 28, 1837.”

All Different Kinds of Free is based on the story of Margaret Morgan and the case of Prigg v Pennsylvania. Margaret was a free woman, living in Pennsylvania with her husband and three children, until she and her children were kidnapped by bounty hunters and taken to Maryland to be returned to the widow of the man who had owned her family (he had freed them before he died). The man’s widow has some financial issues and she’s convinced by her daughter and son-in-law that she’ll make a tidy profit selling Margaret and her children at auction.

Fact is, he said, the Ashmores don’t have papers saying they own me, and I don’t have papers saying I’m free.”

McCann takes this lesser known bit of history and weaves a tale of what might have happened to Margaret, interspersed with the POV of her husband Jerry fighting to find a way to get his family back and the legal proceedings arguing the legalities of *abducting* Margaret. Needless to say, Margaret’s experiences are horrific, but at the same time I didn’t quite *feel* the horror and felt a bit on the outside looking in, and the ending was a bit too pat. The one thing that really struck me is that all those good white folks in Pennsylvania were darned outraged over someone from another state coming in and taking Margaret away and arguing the legalities of it all the way to the Supreme Court, but did one of them really care about getting Margaret and her children back? No…

Your family is gone, son. You best accept it, and you best be on your way now.”

FTC, a Kindle freebie.